The Rise of the iPod: An Intelligent Design
While writing this essay, I usually listen to music (ironically enough, purchased on iTunes). Lately I've been trying some hip-hop tracks, and heard this lyric in a song called Knockatomi Plaza: "I sell the same product, I just know how to repackage it." ''It struck me as appropriate to include in my writing here, because in a way, that's Steve Jobs, Apple, and especially the iPod, boiled down to an essence. It's also appropriate, because in this article we're going to be examining just how the iPod, the ''"same product" in theory as the earlier-generation mp3 players, "repackaged" ''their functionality into a desireable, revolutionary unit. Issues of the Competing Units Functionality Prior to the debut of the iPod, the general public had a small, but motley assortment of competing mp3 players to choose from. While relatively cheap, most failed to really explore the potential of file based music storage, suffering from low amounts of memory, offering little more than 2 hours of playback time, while also being inconveniently heavy, sometimes tipping the scales at as much as 70 grams. Jenish, D., Davies, T. (1999, August 30). The Walkman at 20. ''Maclean's. p. 10. There were also hardware limitations to contend with, such as the universally available, but disappointingly sluggish, USB 1.1 connection, which nearly all mp3 players of the era relied upon. All things combined, a consumer buying one of these devices at the turn of the millennium would have to be prepared to spend a high price for an imperfect, slow downloading, and low capacity unit. Design Even two years after the quiet introduction of portable mp3 players with the MPMan's debut, the rest of the market had still great distances to go in order to popularize the new concept. Recognizable audio brands were still absent from the scene, and although slightly more reputable ones such as Creative Labs had arrived, Jenish, D., Davies, T. (1999, August 30). The Walkman at 20. Maclean's. p. 10. they appealed more to a tech-savvy demographic, as their product base was almost strictly limited to personal computer components. Perhaps worst of all, these mp3 juggernauts were overlooking a key part of the marketing formula that had already been proven to be a success: appealing product design. Most of these early devices looked like what they essentially were: a peripheral device that worked with a PC, not the vibrant, standalone lifestyle accessory like the Walkman had been as far back as 1979, or even further back, the music player for the ski-slopes, the Astraltune, in 1975. Newspaper reviewers, even as recently as seven years ago, decried the basic, almost militaristic design approach that the competition had adopted. Bruno, A. (2005, January 29). Apple Shuffles In To Expand Player Market. Billboard. p. 39. - SOUND BITE - "In this whole new digital music revolution, there is no market leader. There are small companies like Creative and SonicBlue; then there's some large companies like Sony that haven’t had a hit yet. They haven’t found the recipe. No one, really, has found the recipe." ' - Steve Jobs, at the October 2001 keynote that introduced the iPod.' Jobs, S. (2001, October 23). Apple Keynote Address. In YouTube. Online. Content Lastly, anyone offering an mp3 player in the year 2000 trod an unpopular path, that of offering a device which relied on marginal quality music files, sourced from legally dubious places. While scofflaws (at that time) like Napster and MP3.com enjoyed considerable popularity due to their expansive and free libraries of music, there were no above-board competitors available, music industry analysts and reviewers decrying the "glacial" rate Sony, Universal, and BMG were exploring starting their own online music libraries. Goodman, F. (2000, July 06). The Future Is Now. Rolling Stone. p. 41. Solutions the iPod Offered Functionality During the October 2001 keynote address that introduced the iPod, Steve Jobs was quick to reference all that had plagued the portable mp3 industry up until this point, adding a few other relevant points such as sampling rates (one of the contributing factors to poor mp3 sound quality) as well as a few metrics, like cost per song in relation to the storage space of a variety of then-current mp3 players. Then, without breaking a sweat, he went on to explain how all these ills could very easily be remedied with a slightly different hardware and software approach. The problem could be solved, if, stealing Apple's own mantra at the time, a company were to merely Think Different. - SOUND BITE - "The biggest thing about iPod is that it holds a thousand songs. Now this is a quantum leap, because for most people, it’s their entire music library." ' - Steve Jobs.' First, without mentioning the actual measurement of storage capacity of the iPod, Mr. Jobs put a more practical figure on how many songs his new device could hold: about one thousand. This was something the general public, not necessarily computer experts, could more easily grasp. He was also quick to point out that these "thousand songs" were CD-quality mp3 files, encoded at 160 kilobits per second, and were not the overly compressed ones that competitors would sometimes use to artificially inflate storage estimates. Rather than reinvent the file that held the music, like Sony had tried, and banish compression altogether, Apple would simply provide a vastly larger storage space for the mp3s, allowing them to be recorded -- using that "benign" program called iTunes -- at a much lower compression ration, with greater bass preservation. Next, skip protection was addressed. As the iPod used a rotating hard disk (and therefore utilized moving parts) there was naturally the possibility that skipping could occur, much like a CD player. Already capitalizing on the activity/fitness lifestyle, Mr. Jobs pointed out that his iPod had not 20 seconds of skip protection, but 20 minutes "so you can take iPod bicycling, mountain climbing, jogging, you name it, and you're not going to skip a beat." Lastly, there was the issue of getting all that content on the iPod. Was there going to be a bottleneck between the computer and the player? None at all. Because, as it were, Apple Computer had already addressed the initial low speed capacities of the USB interfaces of the era, by introducing an alternative connection called FireWire, which had a much higher transfer speed. This connection had been standard on most Apple Macintosh computers for several years, and it was with little surprise that during the keynote, Mr. Jobs announced that the new iPod would rely on it in lieu of USB, making this feature brand exclusive. Michaels, P. (2002, January 01). Breakthrough Artist? Macworld. p. 12. Zyska, P. (2001, November 16). The Hidden Functionality of iPod. Computer Dealer News. p. 12. Again, rather than boring the crowd and public with dry industry statistics, easily graspable terms were employed: the previously mentioned thousand songs could be downloaded in just ten minutes. Over USB, onto a comparable device, it would take over five hours. For ever issue that had plagued the industry, Apple seemingly had a solution. Battery life, charging methods, device weight, and unit size were all summarily addressed, then dismissed. The iPod contained one of the company's most advanced batteries, and could play for ten hours on a single charge; it could be powered directly through the FireWire cable, or via a wall charger; it weighed 6.5 grams, Although 6.5 grams was not significantly lighter than the previously quoted 7 grams of first generation mp3 players, it should be reiterated that this was for a device that held much more content and could arguably do more. lighter than most cell phones of the era; and scarcely bigger than a pack of playing cards, it was more akin to the convenience of Sony's Walkman, slipping easily into a garment. "I happen to have one right here in my pocket, as a matter of fact," Mr. Jobs said, almost comically, as the audience began to chuckle. Holding it aloft triumphantly, the world caught sight of the new audio industry leader. Design Unlike the plastic-clad equivalents on the market in 2001, the public was getting a glimpse of something classier, and more durable. Unlike the harsh, rough ABS plastics of the early generation digital audio players, or even the uniformly black Japanese offerings, the iPod was a gleaming white and stainless steel device that was less than one inch thick, and shunned plastics in favour of polycarbonate, a key component found in bulletproof windows, and, ironically enough, compact discs. The controls were easy enough to make out as well, consisting of a multi-line LCD display, a rotary jog dial, and four buttons. Recall the easy to use principles of both the Astraltune and Walkman? - SOUND BITE - "iPod has got Apple Design. We've got one of the best design teams in the world, and they have done a remarkable job." ' - Steve Jobs.' Although Mr. Jobs may not have been responsible for the iPod's invention from the ground up, his influence definitely extended over many aspects of its overall development and design. He repeatedly insisted (and unsurprisingly succeeded) that the user interface of the new player must, under no circumstances, require more than three clicks to play a song. Fritz, B. (2006, June 19). Friend or Foe? Variety. pp. 1, 5. Regardless of what function of the iPod the user was accessing, be it the graphic equalizer, a playlist, preferences and the like, three clicks on the control wheel would get you back to your music, but then, as the competitors had seemed to overlook, it was for music playback, pure and simple, that the purchaser had bought the device. Anything else, really, was simply a convenience accessory. Content At the first-generation iPod's debut, only one thing seemed to be somewhat brushed over, or at least maybe not addressed fully. That was the issue of where the music was coming from. Remember that this was the same year that saw the aforementioned free music sharing websites finally saw legal backlash brewing on the horizon after a very popular summer of 2000. And although the concern of being legally entangled may have delayed competitors from developing their own mp3 players in the early years, for fear that their device could literally become an accessory to a crime, Apple took a much different approach. It produced something that, while a very attractive storage device to store the huge number of free mp3s available online, was very publicly denounced for being used in such a way. By wrapping the device in a colourful seal that forbade the user from commiting music theft, and also by even including the block-capital phrase "Don't Steal Music" in its ad campaign at the time, Steve Jobs effectively washed his hands of any wrongdoing his consumers might perform using his device. Boutin, P. (2001, December 18). Don’t Steal Music, Pretty Please. Salon.com Retrieved June 30th, 2012, from http://www.salon.com/2001/12/18/dont_steal_music. And besides, that's what iTunes was for ... you were supposed to be converting the CD's you had already politely paid for. At least that was the story that was being stuck to. However ... as industry giants Sony, Bertelsman, Goodman, F. (2000, July 06). The Future is Now. Rolling Stone. p. 41. and AOL-Time Warner Boutin, P. (2001, December 18). Don’t Steal Music, Pretty Please. Salon.com Retrieved June 30th, 2012, from http://www.salon.com/2001/12/18/dont_steal_music. tried to awkwardly legalize online music downloading by offering curious, subscription based file-sharing websites, the new kid on the block (Apple), took a chip off the old block (Napster), and prepared to set the music industry on its ear a second time. Legally, to the convenience of the consumer, and at extreme profit to itself. So tap your iPod's control wheel three clicks into the future, for the year 2004 is the next stop in our journey through music revolution ... PLAYBACK CONTROL << RW | FFWD >> References and Citations Category:The Rise of the iPod Category:Articles